Presidential Chief of Staff Billy Kuartei said the government is in the process of signing the agreements.

President Tommy Remengesau said the United States believes that increasing the number of signatories will strengthen the ban against biological and chemical weapons and increase international security against weapons of mass destruction.

The Biological Weapons Convention establishes a global ban on germ weapons, prohibiting the development, production and stockpiling of biological or microbial agents for hostile purposes.

The Biological Weapons Convention was created in 1975 and currently has 146 signatories.

The Chemicals Weapons Convention establishes a similar ban on the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons. It has 147...

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 2) - THIRTY-eight percent of the 17,733 children in the CNMI as of 2000 were living below poverty line, exceeding the child poverty rate in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia, Variety has learned.

The finding is highlighted in a report by the U.S. Population Reference Bureau and The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The CNMI’s child poverty rate was considerably higher than that on nearby Guam, but was lower than the 67 percent poverty rate found in American Samoa.

Guam’s child poverty rate is 29 percent, while the U.S. national rate is 16 percent.

The 23-page report, obtained by Variety, stated that the number of 16 to 19-year-olds who were high school dropouts increased slightly from 29 percent to 30 percent.

Nationwide, only 10 percent of 16 to 19-year olds were high school dropouts in 2000.

"In releasing the report, we...hope that policy makers will find the information useful as they shape...

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 2) – The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas administration will reduce government operations by 20 percent this year, a move designed to ease the cash-flow problems of the financially strapped government, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said.

"One of the ways to reduce the size of government is through (workforce) attrition," Babauta said.

The administration plan includes the privatization of the power services of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., the Government Health and Life Insurance Plan, and the Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

The governor said they have drafted legislation that will be submitted to Senate President Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, and House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan.

Babauta said he will also push for the privatization of the solid waste management program as well as the operation and management of the new sanitary landfill in Marpi.

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 3) - Capitol Hill’s I-Denni area had been found and confirmed since last year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be contaminated with lead and polychlorinated biphenyls at levels that exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s cleanup standards, Variety learned yesterday.

This is the second area on Saipan known to have PCB contamination.

In Tanapag, over 30,300 tons of PCB-contaminated soil has so far been treated by the Army Corps and its contractor, Environmental Chemical Corp.

PCB Aroclor 1254 was detected in 25 soil samples collected from the I-Denni area, and Aroclor 1254 was detected in six soil samples.

The Army Corps, in an Aug. 2002 report, said that 21 of the soil samples tainted with PCB exceeded EPA’s preliminary remediation goal of 66 microgram per kilogram.

The Army Corps said 30 soil samples collected at the area contained lead concentration in excess of EPA’s preliminary remediation...

In a letter to David Fukutomi, Federal Emergency Management Agency's federal coordinating officer, Gov. Carl Gutierrez asked that the federal government pay 90 percent of the cost of typhoon restoration.

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Jan. 2) - Utilities Corp. Chairman Francisco Q. Guerrero is asking the board to consider privatizing the power supply of at least two power plants on Saipan.

In his message to board members during their Tuesday meeting on Tinian, Guerrero said: "Privatization has shown that power purchase solicitation from independent producers and the subsequent selection has created significant competition among investors. This resulted in government receiving competitive proposals with relatively low prices compared to existing generation cost."

"Ultimately, the benefits from the reduced electricity prices will go to the public through smaller payments for their electricity bills," he added.

He said privatization needs "greater participation from the board and the management" to address legal and political issues, balancing private and public expectations, financing requirements, valuation difficulties, environmental issues and its effect on...

SUVA, Fiji (Radio Fiji, Jan. 3) - The Fiji Women's Crisis Center says, it received more cases of racist violence last year compared to any other year.

Center co-coordinator Shameema Ali says, inter-racial rape cases were on the increase with the latest being the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old girl in Lautoka.

The year 2002 also witnessed an increase in incest cases reported.

"Another area that we have seen last year an increase since 2000 is the rise in racism in this country, the racial and racist’s attacks on people."

"That should be of great concern to everyone, interracial rape that hardly used to happen very rare, crimes against women and children I mean abductions our days and little kids. Those things have been of great concern for us last year," said Ali.

Ali says, there seems to be a backlash against the women's movement as they become more vocal on issues affecting them.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.